Apple demanded Telemoji to be removed
Beta version of Telegram had animated versions of Apple's emoji — Telemoji, but they are unavailable on release. Part of the animations Telegram was intending to provide for free.
Pavel Durov unveiled the reasoning behind this decision: Apple demanded for the animated versions of the default emoji to be removed from the emoji picker.
This is likely due to the fact Apple didn't like how Telegram uses Apple's trademarked emoji design for their own products.
Premium users can still use the cancelled emoji set by adding the "Restricted Emoji" pack.
Pavel Durov has also announced the custom emoji will be used for profile statuses and reactions — Premium users will get access to these features first in coming weeks.
